Stocks are getting a lift this afternoon as the U.S. and Russia levy financial sanctions against each other.

The S&P 500 is trading at 1872, up 0.6% from Wednesday's closing levels and above Tuesday's closing levels. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is trading unchanged at 2.77%.

The U.S. dollar is advancing against the Japanese yen and is up against the euro as well, but gains against the latter are fading. Most European equity indices (save for the London FTSE 100 and Spain's IBEX 35) closed positive after spending the majority of the session in the red.

Most of the gains in stocks today came in the first few minutes following the release of better-than-expected data from the Philly Fed's monthly Business Outlook Survey — a gauge of regional manufacturing conditions — at 10 AM ET.

Geopolitical headlines have been crossing newswires as U.S. President Obama announced widened financial sanctions against Russian elites, and Russia responded by sanctioning several high-ranking members of the U.S. congress.

The charts below show price action in various markets. Across the top from left to right are the S&P 500 index, the U.S. dollar-Japanese yen exchange rate, and the euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate. Across the bottom are gold futures, 10-year U.S. Treasury futures, and December 2015 eurodollar futures.